Honestly there was a small difference in overall tone, hard to describe, depending on the sound but I couldn't label one as better than other. Files were my own CDs ripped from iTunes in ALAC. I had to use the DAC in preout mode else computer was not powerful enough or too close to 100%, maybe I messed some settings. Setup 2 : DAP -> DAC -> Amp, i2S HDMI then RCA Setup 1 : Motherboard jack-to-RCA -> Amp, files read with Groovy (W10 built-in player) Just performed the comparison, roughly matched (with Apple Watch mic). The media player i am using is cyberlink powerdvd ultra 21.Ĭould it be as the motherboard has only one PCI express slot, most likely is this slot specialized for video cards only, could there be a compatabilty issue? The ae-9 has the volume control and i am using direct mode to try and get the best possible sound.
#Cyberlink powerdvd 17 sound is staticy windows 10#
The ae-5 looks to have good quality op-amps in the left and right channel but poorer quality smd components in the other channels.įor the OS i am using windows 10 home edition, then slotting the ae-9 into the pci-e slot of the asus H170I-PRO motherboard, then taking the ananlog outs from the ae-9, which are rca for the front left and right, and 3.5mm jacks for the remaining channels, this goes into three quad power amps to produce 5.1 sound Listening to the card the stereo performance is not bad, sound quality has some detail and enthusiasm but when switching to surround 5.1 the performance is poor.
You're right the ae-5 review was not all that good but did do well as far as comparing with other soundcards.